The Power of Three
by blamtina cohevanderson
Summary: Blaine, Sam, and Tina come to a special agreement while working on an assignment for glee. Written during the summer between seasons 4 and 5.


**Note: I wrote this during the hiatus between seasons 4 and 5, before it ever occurred to me to make a fanfiction account. In a million years, I never dreamed we would actually get anything remotely like Trio in canon. Even though that episode went far beyond my expectations of how the show would acknowledge this friendship, I miss Tina and thought I might as well share this. Not sure if I will continue it or let it stand on it's own.**

Mr. Shue faced the whiteboard, tapping his marker against his forehead, squinting his eyes, and pursing his lips. He spun around to face the students.

"Um... ok, guys. This week is going to be something totally new, something never done before in glee club history! I really think this assignment is going to bring a whole new energy to your performances. It's gonna be groundbreaking!"

Blaine sat up straight and tilted his ear towards Mr. Shue with an eager smirk. Ryder, straddling his backwards-facing chair, began to bounce up and down. Sam drummed his thumbs against his notebook in anticipation. Tina and Artie exchanged skeptical side glances.

Mr. Shue scanned the 18 eyes staring at him and began to feel the crushing weight that had sent him fleeing to Washington to rediscover his passion six months ago. How could he be out of ideas AGAIN? These nine remaining members of New Directions were counting on him more than ever before. They were about to defend their national championship three members short of the eligibility requirements. Not only did he need to prepare them to put on their best performance ever, he had to distract them from the impending disaster of being disqualified if he couldn't recruit three new members in the next two weeks. Suddenly all these numbers began to jumble in Mr. Shue's head and before he new it, he had blurted out, "TRIOS!"

Eighteen eyes blinked.

"Uh, that's right you guys." He began to nervously scribble "Trios" on the white board in green marker. 'We've done duets. We've done boys against girls. But never before have we harnessed the power... of three." He whispered the last two words dramatically.

Sam cleared his throat, "Actually, Mr. Shue, Tina, Joe and I totally slayed that Britney Spears menage a trois song." Tina smiled and nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Yes, Sam, but that performance nearly inspired Brittany to shave her head. This week I want you guys to take it to a new level. The triangle is known for being one of the strongest shapes in geometry. And I know over the years you guys have all been involved in your share of love triangles. There's something special about groups of three, and I want to see what you guys can do. Go ahead and split yourselves up. And just to make things interesting, I don't want anyone in a group with someone they've dated."

"I'm pretty sure that's not mathematically possible," Kitty proclaimed, mentally diagramming the historical relationships in the room.

Sam and Blaine immediately high-fived and shifted their chairs towards one another. Jake and Marley reluctantly moved to opposite sides of the room, and Kitty, acknowledging her history with Jake, plunked down on Marley's side. Artie quickly rolled himself between the sophomore girls and grinned. "Ladies, I know you need an injection of my silky baritone." Kitty blushed, then seemed to remember where she was and rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. Ryder joined Jake, leaving Unique and Tina unsure where to go.

"Listen, if you're not comfortable working with Ryder after the whole catfishing thing, I can definitely go with them," Tina whispered, though what she really wanted was a chance to sing some more with her best friend Blaine.

Unique smiled. Though they'd had their differences as two strong-minded divas, she could see that Tina was actually a sweet, selfless girl deep down. "No, I think this could be a chance for us to try to work things out. And Jake will be a good chaperone. Thank you for offering." Unique patted Tina's arm. Jake smirked at Unique supportively and beckoned her towards him. She took a deep breath and confidently strode in the boys' direction. Tina stood alone next to the piano, feeling a little unwanted.

"Hey Tina, vaporape totally doesn't count as dating, so it's ok if you want to join us," Sam teased. She shuffled towards them, excited about her group, but wishing that the selection process hadn't made her feel, yet again, like the biggest underdog in McKinley High's most notorious club for underdogs.

* * *

Blaine, Sam and Tina had been sitting in a triangle around Blaine's iPad for almost an hour. It seemed like every song they'd come up with had two supporters and one adamant vetoer. What was Mr. Shue even talking about with triangles being the strongest shape? As far as Tina could tell, triangles just made everything a pain in the ass. She flipped over onto her stomach and rested her chin on her hands.

"We're never going to all agree on a song. Blaine wants something romantic, I want something off the beaten path, and I'm pretty sure Sam just wants something he can strip to."

"Ugh, Tina's right. We're not getting anywhere like this. Let's give our brains a break and go get some dinner." Blaine popped up to his feet in one graceful motion and stretched out a hand towards each of his best friends to help them up.

"Who's driving? My fuel light's been on since last Thursday." Sam bit his lower lip sheepishly.

"My mom's car is blocking mine in. Do you mind, T?"

"No problem." Tina secretly hated driving other people. Something about having passengers automatically downgraded her normally safe driving skills by at least 40%.

"Shotgun!" Sam called out as soon as he stepped foot outside the Andersons' front door.

Great. As if driving weren't bad enough, Sam was the worst front seat passenger. He was so hyper and always fiddling with the radio and the air. One time he had even turned her hazard lights on while she was on the expressway, and she hadn't noticed for a solid five miles.

The entire drive to Breadstix was exactly as Tina had expected. Blaine was distracted with texting Kurt in the backseat and Sam couldn't seem to listen to more than fifteen seconds of a song without flipping the station. Between the dings of Blaine's phone and near-constant shifting between radio static and blips of music, her head was beginning to spin.

"Tina, watch out!" Sam screamed as Tina's front bumper made contact with the car stopped at a red light in front of her.

"Oh my god. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. Are you guys ok? I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Oh my god, what did I do?" Tina began hyperventilating as an angry looking bald man emerged from the car in front of them.

"Tina, calm down. It's ok, we're fine, that guy is obviously fine, and it doesn't look like there's any damage to his car. You weren't going fast. It could happen to anyone." Sam held a steadying grip on her shoulder and looked deep into her eyes. "You're ok, right?"

She nodded, fighting back tears. Blaine sprang into action from the back seat, intercepting the man before he reached Tina's window. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but Blaine's soothing, cordial tone was soon met with what sounded like gruff laughter. Before she knew it, the man took a quick glance at his bumper, got back in his car, and drove away. Blaine gave a self-satisfied nod towards nothing in particular and got back in Tina's car.

"What just happened, dude? Did you seriously convince that guy to leave just like that?" Sam asked in awe.

"It was all just a harmless mistake. Peter completely understood."

"You're on a first name basis with him now? It's time to admit that you're a wizard, Blaine. No mere human is this perfect at everything." Tina felt a weird mixture of jealousy and pride. She'd never be as good at most things as Blaine. Maybe not even as good at ANYTHING. But she knew that he considered her one of his best friends, and if someone as special as Blaine saw something special in her, then she had to feel pretty good about that.

* * *

Sam was not at all subtley eyeing the remainder of Tina's rigatoni. She had planned to take home her leftovers for dinner the next night, but she pushed the plate towards him. He grinned his adorable, big-lipped grin.

"Ok, you guys, so I've been thinking about prom, and I know this might sound weird," Blaine began, "but you guys are my best friends and I just really want to make these last memories of senior year with you guys count. You know? And with Kurt in New York and Brittany at MIT and Mike in Chicago, I don't think any of us were planning on going with, like, a romantic date, right?"

"What does Mike being in Chicago have to do with my romantic life? We've been broken up since last summer."

"I know, but, I mean, you haven't dated anyone else this year so I guess I just thought maybe you were holding out to get back together with him. You guys did talk about it when he was helping out with Grease, right?" Blaine asked innocently.

Tina rolled her eyes and sipped her soda.

Blaine cleared his throat. "So anyway, what would you guys think about all going together. You know, as friends. Like, an unbreakable triangle of best friends!"

Sam didn't respond. Tina slumped down a bit in the booth.

"What's wrong, you guys? I thought you'd be excited. We'll have so much fun and it takes the pressure off finding a real date."

Sam finally spoke up. "Man, you know I love you and I'm totally proud of being the best friend of the gay guy. But two guys and one girl is, like, NOT how the fantasy goes for most dudes."

Blaine's shoulders fell. "Tina, what about you?"

Suddenly, tears began to stream down her face. Both boys moved in closer and put an arm around her.

"What's wrong? Are you still shaken up from the car accident?" Sam asked.

She sniffled. "No. I mean, yeah, a little. But that's not why I'm upset. I know I'm a strong, independent woman, and I know I'll never let a man, or the lack of a man, define me. But I was so in love for two years and I forgot what it's like to feel this alone. When I was younger, it never would have crossed my mind that I'd even go to prom at all. Then I got to high school and I joined glee club and I found my confidence. I dated Artie and finally got to feel what it was like to have butterflies in my stomach for someone who felt the same way about me. And then somehow I, fake-stuttering goth girl Tina Cohen-Chang, ended up in a serious relationship with a hot, dancing football player with washboard abs. And it became second nature to picture my life with flowers and candy and making out quietly while a little Asian lady knits in the next room, but I've been without any of that for the entirety of what is supposed to be the best year of my life so far!"

Both boys stared at her, for once unsure what to say. Neither of them had known her in her goth phase, but they'd both heard about her stuttering and her shyness. It was hard to believe that this beautiful, confident, talented girl still held onto those old insecurities.

Sam finally piped up. "Tina, you may not have dated anyone this year so far, but I'm so jealous of you for that. You know who you are outside of a relationship. Have you noticed how I spend all my time either doing impressions or trying to be whatever my girlfriend of the moment wants me to be? It's because sometimes I don't know how to just be Sam Evans. Besides, I've dated practically all the glee girls and every single one of them has broken my heart. At least you know Artie and Mike both genuinely loved you. Quinn and Santana both used me and I had to practically beg Mercedes and Brittany to date me. For once, I want a girl to pursue me and make me feel like I'm the prize."

Blaines eyes darted sympathetically between his two friends. "Sam, you ARE a prize. And Tina, you're right that you don't need a man to define you, but you do deserve one to love and support you. I meant what I said after Mr. Shue's wedding about helping you find someone. And I, for one, think the answer to both of your problems is really obvious."

Tina and Sam groaned simultaneously at Blaine, then exchanged glares with one another. "Hey, what are you complaining about? You did once tell me I was hot enough to fool around with if we were trapped in a bunker."

"Yeah, you are, but what do you have against me? I thought you were totally on board with my pillowy lips and my hilarious impressions!"

"I am!" Tina said exasperatedly.

"Then what are we arguing about?"

They both blinked stubbornly at each other, neither wanting to be the first to admit that Blaine was right. They finally broke down at the exact same moment and smiled.

"So, prom?" Sam asked.

"Prom." Tina answered.

Blaine cleared his throat.

"Prom _trio_, that is," Tina clarified, extending her hand to the middle of the table. "It's gonna be…"

The boys each piled a hand on top of hers. "AAAAAAMAZING!"


End file.
